Sainsbury’s renames chicken kievs and withdraws all products made in Russia Business

Sainsbury’s is renaming its chicken kievs and removing all Russian-made products from its shelves in the most decisive action ever taken by a supermarket following Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

John Lewis is also removing Russian-made products from its department stores and Waitrose supermarkets. Only two items – Russian vodka and pizza oven pellets – will be affected by the move.

Sainsbury’s said it will now sell “chicken kyiv” – the Ukrainian spelling – rather than “chicken kiev”, with the rollout expected in the coming weeks.

It will also stop selling Russian Standard vodka and Karpayskiye black sunflower seeds.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We are united with the people of Ukraine. We have reviewed our product range and have decided to withdraw all 100% Russian sourced products from sale.”

The gins and vodkas sold by JJ Whitley are made in Russia, but the producer has already announced that it will switch to Chorley in Lancashire by the end of the month. As a result, Sainsbury’s said it would continue to sell these products.

The moves come after growing criticism from buyers over the continued sale of Russian-made products. Reviews left on the websites of Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Ocado called on supermarkets to remove them from sale in a show of solidarity with Ukraine. In the United States, a handful of US states have banned the sale of Russian vodka.

Although the UK has not taken such a drastic step, some bars have, and London-listed Revolution Bars has reportedly already removed the only Russian vodka from its shelves.

Nightcap Group, owner of the Cocktail Club, has also stopped selling Russian vodka in its 25 bars.

Pubs have also started to act, with Wetherspoon’s saying this week it would stop selling Russian beer “in light of the situation in Ukraine”.

The pub chain said: “We are in no way implying that anyone involved in the brewery is directly involved in what is happening, but we felt that in light of the current situation our pubs did not want serve Russian beers.”